Looks like we're gonna get that Dr. Pepper after all.

I didn't believe it would happen. I was for sure it was a marketing stunt tied to a product that would never, ever see the light of day. But now we're six days away from the release of Guns N Roses' fifth original studio album, Chinese Democracy, and all I can say is "holy crap." That and "man, that Dr. Pepper is gonna taste so sweet."

For those of you who don't know, back in March soft drink company Dr. Pepper made an announcement to Billboard.com that it would give a free can of its product to everyone in America (except, and this is for serious, ex-guitarists Slash and Buckethead) if Chinese Democracy actually managed to come out at any point in 2008. For a record that's been in the works for 14 years, it seemed like Dr. Pepper was making a pretty safe bet, writing a check it would never have to cash.

(if you want to read the original news release, it's here).

I didn't even flinch when I found out in August that a track from this supposed new album was going to be on Rock Band 2. After all, one song done does not an album make, and Axl had already released a new song for the End of Days soundtrack in 1999.

But then a few weeks ago something fairly jarring happened... BestBuy.com was promoting that Chinese Democracy had an honest-to-God release date of November 23, 2008. And then about a week later iTunes was reporting the same thing, and it began to pre-sell digital copies of the album with a full track list up and the title track available for instant download. And all of a sudden it looked like my cynicism was misplaced... 2008 would usher in Chinese Democracy, after all.

And then my cynicism turned elsewhere, to that article on Billboard.com that my friend Vince had pointed me to more than half a year ago. And I thought, "there's no way Dr. Pepper is going to make good on this. What are the odds?"

Well, I'd say they're pretty good. Check this out.

In short: on November 23, anyone who wants to can go to the Dr. Pepper website, enter some personal information, and get a coupon for a free can of Dr. P. The coupon will arrive in 4-6 weeks and will expire in February 2009.

So this is pretty good news, I'd say. New GNR by the end of the week (that's this Sunday!), and a free soft drink in the next couple of months. Not bad atall. And incase you're wondering... I like the new Guns song in Rock Band 2. It is a little industrial-sounding, sure, but it's got a really catchy chorus and some sweet guitar action at the end. But don't take my word for it...



(it should be noted that I don't play this song in the game a lot, at least not on guitar, because that riff is hard, man!)

So yes, I am eagerly awaiting this album. I love GNR's first four studio efforts and while I'm not so deluded as to think this will live up to their best work, I'm certainly not going to count it out before I've heard the thing.

Couple that with new releases from The Killers and Bang Camaro later the same week and this is a really exciting week in music for me.

Rock Band 2 is out today!!!

I woke up early to download Rush's "Moving Pictures" album for Rock Band

and it isn't up yet. Apparently there are technical difficulties. Rumor has it there are problems with the song "YYZ," which has no vocal track. This leaves me bored. This also leaves me with time to post, so I'm gonna do one up that I'd been thinking about for awhile. I already listed my top 5 songs for the forthcoming Rock Band 2... but right now I'd like to take a look back and name my top 10 DLC (that's downloadable content) for Rock Band 1. These are songs that I feel are so awesome that it is a sin to not have them in your RB1 collection (unless you have the game on the PS2 or Wii... in which case, you don't really have a choice. Sorry guys):

10. Vesuivius, "The Promised Land" -- I must be a shitty movie critic, because The Rocker totally bombed, failing even to make it into the top 10 weekend movies (it got beat by Death Race and The House Bunny?!). Still, I love the movie, and I love this song, a free download to help promote the film (again, an obvious failure). This is the first really "hairy" track in the game and it truly lets you rock out arena-style on the drums, which also facilitates the aping of Rainn Wilson's previously-mentioned rock faces.

9. The Cars, "Just What I Needed" -- Awesome song, really fun to drum. It's got a driving rhythm and I always feel like a rock star when I hit the crash cymbals in the chorus. Singing it is a blast too.

8. Bang Camaro, "Rock Rebellion" -- Any Bang Camaro song is awesome, obviously. It's unfortunate that the Rock Band mic really hates more than one person singing into it, because this is the kind of song you need a dozen or so people to belt out (especially if some of those people know the harmonies!).

7. Oasis, "Don't Look Back in Anger" -- The funny thing is I didn't really like this song til I was playing with my friend Todd and it came up as the second to last song in a random setlist. Todd pointed out that it was awesome to put a ballad right before the end, which hopefully would end up being a rocker (it did). It was at that point I realized that Rock Band is short on true ballads, thus making this song important to the game. It is also super-fun to drum, giving some of the best/most doable fills of all the songs available, in my opinion. When this song inevitably gets played at Rock Band parties, I make sure I'm behind the drum kit.

6. Boston, "Peace of Mind" -- Another song with a really driving rhythm, it's just EXCITING. Pretty much every part is good for this song, although my first choices are drums or guitar (I love singing it but Boston singer Brad Delp hits some ungodly notes in there). Even though this clearly isn't the biggest song in Boston's excellent catalog, it is my favorite.

5. The Police, "Roxanne" -- I tend not to play this song a lot, but I get a perverse thrill from watching lots of my friends do it. This tune is a great party song that almost everyone knows and that any man with balls (metaphorically, perhaps not literally) will attempt to belt out just like the Stingster. In particular, this song makes my list because of my friend Craig's rendition of it. Too cool.

4. The Who, "Baba O'Riley" -- Though I was slightly dissapointed with the Who mega-pack, one cannot deny the epicness (sorry to use such an internet term) of this song. Once Rock Band 2 comes out and you have the ability to make your own setlist for almost anything you do, I reckon this song will go at the start of a great portion of those setlists. I mean, that intro alone... man. It gets you pumped.

3. Boston, "More than a Feeling" -- Even though "Peace of Mind" is my favorite Boston song, I think "More Than a Feeling" is more essential to a Rock Band library because more people, by far, know it, and like "Roxanne," that will make more people attempt to sing it. Unlike "Roxanne," this song also has awesome instrument parts for everyone involved (my favorite is probably guitar). It is a joy for this to come up at Rock Band parties when my friend Dwight is there, because he will sing it and he will crush it (even hitting the high note near the end of the song... it is truly impressive).

2. The Police, "Message in a Bottle" -- The second-best memory I have from one of my Rock Band parties is seeing five people crowded around the mic belting out the seemingly endless outro words "sending out an SOS!" This was too cool. In fact, here's a picture:

So, yeah, this song has one of those infectious vocal lines that almost anyone can take a crack at. It also has, in my opinion, the most fun drum part in the entire game. It's a winner all-around.

1. Oasis, "Wonderwall" -- But my favorite Rock Band party moment is due to this song. Some folks were playing in another room while me and some friends were gathered around a poker table. All of a sudden, this song starts... and poker stops. We all start singing along. There must have been at least 10 people in on this. It was pretty amazing. And not only that, but I think that bringing people together like that is kind of what rock and roll is all about. For Rock Band to imitate that aspect of the rock music experience is impressive. And the sheer fact that "Wonderwall" is probably the best-known, most singable song of all the Rock Band DLC means that it, without a doubt, takes my number one spot.

A quick check of the Rockband.com forums show that "Moving Pictures" still isn't up... damn it.

Rush is awesome.

I've finally found a fifth movie to bring on my hypothetical tour bus.

Which is great, because for years when friends and I would talk about the top five movies we would HAVE to bring on tour (yes, we talked about this), assuming we ever went on tour (which we never have and probably never will), my list was always one film short. I only could really think of four rock-and-roll movies that made me happy and that made me feel good and inspired about music, which I think is an essential ingredient for a tour bus movie. Here's what I had (in no particular order):

1. This is Spinal Tap
2. School of Rock
3. Almost Famous
4. High Fidelity

Then I went to the theater last night and saw this film:

And lo and behold, my list is complete.

In a summer that's been pretty full of good or great movies, The Rocker is something of a surprise. I knew I would enjoy it because I A) love The Office and B) have an inappropriate love of hair metal, the genre which owns Rainn Wilson's character Robert Fishman as the movie begins. But I didn't think it would actually be a pretty sweet movie (and I mean that in two ways)... it made me smile and laugh consistently, and it made me want to immediately hop in an RV with my friends and hit the road as soon as I stepped out of the theater.

Put your fears aside, friends: despite the trailers, this movie has more to it than silly slapstick (I think most of that actually gets shown in the TV spots). It's not completely farcical... despite the fact that it's fairy-taleish, it is also somewhat grounded (except for a scene in the opening of the movie, and I wonder if there isn't something to the fact that the film only shows us fantastic, unbelieveable things in the faraway land of the 1980s). I mean, it's not incredibly likely that what we see in the film could happen, but it is possible... that's what makes the story inspirational. Is it corny? Yeah, a little. Less corny than School of Rock. Also quite funny.

For musicians, there is a lot to enjoy about this movie, a lot that rings true (as my friend Matt pointed out, we all know what it is like to fight for the attention of people who could care less that we are there). For non-musicians, I still think there's lots to like here... one of my favorite things was the running gag of Rainn Wilson's "rock" faces while drumming, and all it takes to laugh at that is a sense of humor. I'm gonna try to learn some of those for the next time I rock out to Vesuvius' "The Promised Land" on Rock Band.

Other things that are cool: good cast. Rainn Wilson is awesomely funny, and the rest of his band is great as well. It turns out the lead singer/songwriter of the fictional A.D.D. is a real-life musician named Teddy Geiger, and his musical ability is positively... radioactive? (GET IT?!)... but seriously his stuff is pretty good. Keyboardist/nephew to Fish Josh Gad is great, and I'd like to see him in more. Bassist Emma Stone (Jules from Superbad) is really good on screen as well, and also super-pretty, so there's that. It's nice to see Christina Applegate, who plays the coolest mom ever (a total MILMSLT... see the film). There are some cool cameos as well, including a handful from SNL and a surprising one from 30 Rock... oh, and a Beatle.

Past the opening, there weren't really any parts of this movie that made me think "oh, come on!" which is weird for a recent studio comedy. I never stopped enjoying the film, and I really want to see it again, which I will assuredly do when it moves down to the $5 club. So it is that I highly recommend The Rocker, especially if you are an aspiring musician and want to feel good about what you do. Or if you just want to enjoy yourself for a few hours... that's a good idea too.

Rating: * * * *

I almost cried

when I saw the just-announced list of songs for Rock Band 2.

I am obsessed with Rock Band. I admit it. It is my number one leisure activity (especially as comics and rock-n-roll are semi-work). Rock Band is the one thing I do that is all fun. And I eat it up. I can play for hours a day. I am seriously going to take off work the day Rock Band 2 comes out just so I can play through the 80-some new songs in one day, because I won't be able to go to bed happy until I've played everything new.

I have posts in mind about why Rock Band is great, why it's silly that people say "I don't need to play Rock Band, because I'm in a real one" or something like that. Let's just assume that's dumb for now and bask in the glory of these new songs:

1. AC/DC “Let There Be Rock” 1970s
2. AFI “Girl’s Gone Grey” 2000’s
3. Alanis Morissette “You Oughta Know” 1990’s
4. Alice in Chains “Man in the Box” 1990’s
5. Allman Brothers “Ramblin’ Man” 1970’s
6. Avenged Sevenfold “Almost Easy” 2000’s
7. Bad Company “Shooting Star” 1970’s
8. Beastie Boys “So Whatcha Want” 1990’s
9. Beck “E-Pro” 2000’s
10. Bikini Kill “Rebel Girl” 1990’s
11. Billy Idol “White Wedding Pt. I” 1980’s
12. Blondie “One Way or Another” 1970’s
13. Bob Dylan “Tangled Up in Blue” 1970’s
14. Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” 1980’s
15. Cheap Trick “Hello There” 1970’s
16. Devo “Uncontrollable Urge” 1980’s
17. Dinosaur Jr. “Feel the Pain” 1990’s
18. Disturbed “Down with the Sickness” 2000’s
19. Dream Theater “Panic Attack” 2000’s
20. Duran Duran “Hungry Like the Wolf” 1980’s
21. Elvis Costello “Pump It Up” 1970’s
22. Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way” 1970’s
23. Foo Fighters “Everlong” 1990’s
24. Guns N’ Roses “Shackler’s Revenge” 2000’s
25. Interpol “PDA” 2000’s
26. Jane’s Addiction “Mountain Song” 1980’s
27. Jethro Tull “Aqualung” 1970’s
28. Jimmy Eat World “The Middle” 2000’s
29. Joan Jett “Bad Reputation” 1980’s
30. Journey “Anyway You Want It” 1970’s
31. Judas Priest “Painkiller” 1990’s
32. Kansas “Carry On Wayward Son” 1970’s
33. L7 “Pretend We’re Dead” 1990’s
34. Lacuna Coil “Our Truth” 2000’s
35. Linkin Park “One Step Closer” 2000’s
36. Lit “My Own Worst Enemy” 1990’s
37. Lush “De-Luxe” 1990’s
38. Mastodon “Colony of Birchmen” 2000’s
39. Megadeth “Peace Sells” 1980’s
40. Metallica “Battery” 1980’s
41. Mighty Mighty Bosstones “Where’d You Go” 1990’s
42. Modest Mouse “Float On” 2000’s
43. Motorhead “Ace of Spades” 1980’s
44. Nirvana “Drain You” 1990’s
45. Norman Greenbaum “Spirit in the Sky” 1960’s
46. Panic at the Disco “Nine in the Afternoon” 2000’s
47. Paramore “That’s What You Get” 2000’s
48. Pearl Jam “Alive” 1990’s
49. Presidents of the USA “Lump” 1990’s
50. Rage Against the Machine “Testify” 1990’s
51. Ratt “Round & Round” 1980’s
52. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Give it Away” 1990’s
53. Rise Against “Give it All” 2000’s
54. Rush “The Trees” 1970’s
55. Silversun Pickups “Lazy Eye” 2000’s
56. Smashing Pumpkins “Today” 1990’s
57. Social Distortion “I Was Wrong” 1990’s
58. Sonic Youth “Teenage Riot” 1980’s
59. Soundgarden “Spoonman” 1990’s
60. Squeeze “Cool for Cats” 1970’s
61. Steely Dan “Bodhitsattva” 1970’s
62. Steve Miller Band “Rock’n Me” 1970’s
63. Survivor “Eye of the Tiger” 1980’s
64. System of a Down “Chop Suey” 2000’s
65. Talking Heads “Psycho Killer” 1970’s
66. Tenacious D “Master Exploder” 2000’s
67. Testament “Souls of Black” 1990’s
68. The Donnas “New Kid in School” 2000’s
69. The Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat” 1980’s
70. The Grateful Dead “Alabama Getaway” 1980’s
71. The Guess Who “American Woman” 1970’s
72. The Muffs “Kids in America” 1990’s
73. The Offspring “Come Out & Play (Keep ‘em Separated)” 1990’s
74. The Replacements “Alex Chilton” 1980’s
75. The Who “Pinball Wizard” 1960’s

Bonus Artist Bonus Song Title Decade
76. Abnormality “Visions” 2000’s
77. Anarchy Club “Get Clean” 2000’s
78. Bang Camaro “Night Lies” 2000’s
79. Breaking Wheel “Shoulder to the Plow” 2000’s
80. The Libyans “Neighborhood” 2000’s
81. The Main Drag “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter” 2000’s
82. Speck “Conventional Lover” 2000’s
83. The Sterns “Supreme Girl” 2000’s
84. That Handsome Devil “Rob the Prez-O-Dent” 2000’s

This is a great setlist. There are a few songs I don't know, and a few bands I despise (Linkin Park) but mostly I am super-thrilled to have these songs at my disposal in roughly two months. Since it's kind of been my blog's thing lately to do "five-lists," let's do top 5 songs I'm most psyched for:

5. Megadeth: Peace Sells



Megadeth is my favorite American metal band, by far, and this is a KICK-ASS song. This one is gonna rock.

4. Ratt: Round And Round



I love hair metal, and this song is one of the catchiest examples of the genre. Unfortunately, my favorite part of the tune is the harmonized crazysolo at 2:41, and harmonized parts don't transfer to Rock Band completely, but hey... still a great song. Besides, Rock Band is low on hair metal at the moment, so this is a very welcome addition.

(PS--this video is amazing. Watch it!)

3. Bob Dylan: Tangled Up in Blue



It shows great intelligence and foresight on the part of Rock Band developers Harmonix to travel a little outside the straight rock genre. The 80 songs above show a few examples of that, but none are as great as Bob Dylan. I feel that it's a major coup for Rock Band to be the ones to stick this genius/American icon into rhythm music games. Can a Bob Dylan DLC pack be far behind? (my votes: All Along the Watchtower, Like a Rolling Stone, Hurricane)

2. Tenacious D: Master Exploder



This song is going to be crazy. Crazy.

1. The Replacements: Alex Chilton



It is a little strange, I grant you, that of all the amazing songs in the list above, this is the one I'm most excited about. But, what I can say? I love this song, and it was just so unexpected... I never in a million years would have thought that this song, that I got to know as a DJ at my college radio station, would ever show up in a game like this. I can't wait to play it over, and over, and over again.